LAS VEGAS  Mountain West fans have long complained about the conference’s, ahem, inconsistent officiating.

The rest of the nation got the see what they were talking about Saturday.

A CBS television audience watched No. 20 New Mexico beat No. 8 San Diego State 64-58 at the Thomas & Mack Center. They also heard: whistles, a lot.

The veteran crew of David Hall, Verne Harris and Eric Curry called 41 fouls, a staggering 30 in the second half alone. In the first game between these teams in Albuquerque last month, a different crew called 21 fouls total and 10 in the second half. (So much for that adage about letting ’em play in championship games.)

Several members of the media joked that they nearly put Hall, Harris and Curry on their all-tournament ballots.

“We had three guys who were veteran officials who have made deep runs themselves in the NCAA Tournament,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “Did I complain about some calls? Yes. Did Coach (Craig) Neal? Yes … I thought there were some calls that weren’t good. I’m sure Neal thought the same thing.

“But if you get caught up in yapping at the officials, whether you’re a player or a coach, you’re not going to be focused on the job.”

Fisher was then asked if he had ever been part of a game where there were almost 20 fouls called by the midway point of a half.

“I’m sure I have, I’ve been doing it a long time,” he said. “I’m sure when I was a JV coach back in 1968, we had a lot of those.”

Two of the (many) questionable calls came against Xavier Thames in the space of 40 seconds. One was for somehow bumping 250-pound New Mexico forward Cameron Bairstow along the baseline, the other for fouling Cullen Neal on a corner 3-pointer.

That gave the Mountain West player of the year four fouls with 11:03 to go and forced Fisher to sit him. After a three-point SDSU lead became a three-point deficit, Fisher subbed him back in with 8:24 to go.

Miracle of all miracles: Thames made it until 13.2 seconds left before fouling out.

Indiana boys

It was a big afternoon for guys who were born eight months apart and grew up in Indiana towns 150 miles apart.

Neal won the Mountain West tournament title at the Thomas & Mack Center in a game that tipped off at 3 p.m. Steve Alford, New Mexico’s coach a year ago, won the Pac-12 title with UCLA a mile away at the MGM Garden Arena in a game that tipped off at 3 p.m.

One difference: Alford created a minor stir by wearing the net to the post-game news conference the last two years. Neal did not Saturday.

Why not?

“I’m Craig,” he said.

Notes

The all-tournament team: Cameron Bairstow (MVP), Kendall Williams and Alex Kirk from New Mexico, and Thames and Dwayne Polee II from SDSU. Lobos fans heartily booed Thames and Polee when the team was announced in the arena … The Aztecs had won four straight against teams in the Associated Press Top 25 … SDSU set a Mountain West tournament record with 11 steals … New Mexico is now 4-1 in conference tournament finals … The Lobos got four points from the bench in the semis and final – Cullen Neal’s four-point play. No bench players scored in the semis …

Bairstow broke the tournament record with 41 attempted free throws in three games. The old mark was 36 by BYU’s Jimmer Fredette … Skylar Spencer had six points less than 10 minutes into the game, and didn’t score again … Winston Shepard had 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and no turnovers, but his recent shooting woes continued. He was 2 of 11 against UNLV in the semis, 4 of 15 against New Mexico … Josh Davis did not score for the second time this season. Both have come on this floor (the other was March 5 at UNLV).